Power and Irrigation Minister Punjab Rana Gurjeet Singh today held a meeting here with senior officials of department of Power, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) to review the power generation and transmission status of the state under current smoggy conditions besides discussing the issue of power cuts faced by the state during last week due to smog.Disclosing this here today, an official spokesman of Punjab Government informed that Rana Gurjeet Singh discussed the current position of the state regarding various aspects related to power generation and distribution during an hour long meeting with the senior officials including Mr. Satish Chandra, Additional Chief Secretary, Power, Mr. Anirudh Tiwari, Principal Secretary, New and Renewable Energy Sources, Mr. A. Venu Prasad, CMD PSPCL and Mr. Balour Singh, Executive Director, Punjab Energy Development Agency. “The recent power cuts and other challenges being faced due to dense smog in some areas of the state are discussed at length during the meeting”, added the Spokesman.
Giving the detail account of the recent transmission failures due to smoggy weather, Er. N.K. Sharma, Director Distribution said that thick deposit caused by heavy smog on insulating discs of 400 KV transmission lines originating from Talwandi Sabo thermal plant resulted into repeated tripping. He said that tripping of power lines forced the shutdown of the power generation at Talwandi Sabo power plant repeatedly. He said that now with the improvement of smog condition in the area the power transmission has been running smoothly. He further added that there was no shortage of power supply in the state.Rana Gurjeet Singh asked the Power officials to make a comprehensive plan to meet the challenges being faced because of smog. He also solicited suggestions from the senior officials and experienced engineers of the department while discussing the ongoing projects, future plans and adoption of innovations in the various fields of power department to increase its efficiency. He asked the officials to adopt every viable measure to ensure the quality of power supply in the state.